Threads
by Princess Tyler Briefs
Summary: A single thread cannot see it's importance in the pattern fate weaves for it. It can but follow, and trust that the weaver knows all. A collection of NejiTen one shots in a variety of genres.
1. Cards

**A/N:** Welcome to my collection of NejiTen short stories! These are all done for the DA group NejiTenplz, which is a great exercise for me and a lot of fun in general. Not all of these follow the same personal canon, and most are rather artsy as I try and explore what I can and can't do as a writer.

Please, please, please, for the love of everything, don't just review but _**CRITIQUE**_ me. I want to know what worked and what didn't.

The prompt is the chapter title. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Neji and TenTen and all other characters your know and love without my help belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing about them and never will.

_**Threads  
By: Reggie**_

_Cards_

"TenTen this is ridiculous," Neji sighed, blowing a spare lock of hair out of his face as he leaned back on his hands, pushing his sleeping bag at even more awkward angle than it had been originally placed. Guy-sensei had left the three of them to set up camp over three hours ago while he continued the watch on their client. This, Neji suspected, had something to do with the district of town their client had been heading towards, and he pitied Guy-sensei having to stay there so long.

It had only taken them about a hour to get their camp complete secure and the tent set up, and TenTen had begun entertaining herself by pulling out her pack of Tarot cards that she brought with her on escort missions like this. She'd often used them to try and predict any danger they would face on a mission, and sometimes Guy-sensei would have her read his. Just for a laugh, he said.

"It doesn't hurt or anything, Neji," Lee grinned at him from where he was lying sprawled on the other side of the tent. TenTen had already finished his, but Neji had stopped listening after TenTen had told him he would find the love perfect for his heart. It was all so silly. His teammates told him constantly that there was no such thing as fate, and here they were trying to predict it.

"All you have to do is sit there," TenTen giggled, and Neji rolled his eyes. She must have taken this as consent, of some kind, as she flipped the first card of her deck. "Oh, the Magician. He means that to make changes, you should use your talents and not hold back."

Neji watched as her pale hands turned the next card, and fought not to smile as she smiled. What was it about TenTen that always made her smile so infectious?

"The next card is Justice. From the position, I'd say you're supposed to use your talents to correct an injustice in the world."

"Maybe change your fate," Lee said, rolling over so his grin Neji's direction was right side up. The Hyuuga just scowled at him, kicking his foot in Lee's direction.

"You'll succeed in that change," TenTen smirked at him and Neji turned his scowl to her. Not that this deterred her in the slightest, but then, it never had. "The World says so. And," she flipped another card, "the Priestess says you'll find love in that accomplishment."

She reached for another card, but Neji stuck out his hand, curling his fingers around her smaller ones. He gave them a squeeze, noticing each scar on those fingers as he pulled her down so their faces were only inches apart. "That's enough. Let's leave the rest of it a surprise."

Her eyes didn't flinch away from his like they had a year ago when they'd become a team, and she nodded. "Okay, Neji. As you wish."


	2. Setting

**A/N:** Written as a collab with my sister as a practice in setting. Beware, WAFF ahead!

**Disclaimer:** The concept of the characters belong to Kishimoto, and I can make no claim to their world nor their origins. However, both of these characters are heavily influenced by pasts and circumstances I have created for them. Those I lay claim to, and if you use them I ask only for credit to that. The Forget-me-not legend is a real one I found on Wikipedia, mostly. I just made it prettier.

_**Threads**  
Setting_

Wasurenagusa

It was ironic, TenTen thought, that she had a blood limit dealing with water, but she loved mountains best.

Nothing, in her mind, was more fantastic than the view around her now, as she and Neji made their way through some small country back to Konoha; returning from a simple escort mission by a different route for security reasons.

They walked side by side through the meadow as they made their way slowly down the gentle slope. The calf high sap green grass around them would have seemed tall if it hadn't been dwarfed by the dusty pines and pale aspens that were almost painful to look at in the noon sun.

Even those were tiny in comparison to the towering stone cliffs that shot like spires from the ground, reaching for the cloudless sky with ice tipped fingers. The behemoths of grey rock made TenTen feel almost insubstantial as she stared up at them, the testaments to the incomprehensible power that created them.

It wasn't the majesty of the scenery that TenTen liked best, though. Most breathtaking of all was the sea of tiny blue flowers they were walking though. Each created with five perfect blue petals, twisting and curling in the late spring breeze.

She grinned as she picked a handful and held them out to the young man beside here. "Aren't they beautiful, Neji?"

Neji looked over at the girl to see what she was trying to show him. He had been enjoying the feel of the somewhat chilly breeze that was trying to tug his hair and clothing loose, but that would have to wait. He eyed the flowers in his teammate's hand and quirked an eyebrow. "Are those forget-me-nots?"

"Yes," her smile softened as she started weaving the tiny stems together to form a wreath. "They're my favorite flowers. Ino told me the legend of how they got their name." She bent down and picked another handful to add to her creation as they walked through the grass without bending a blade of it. She probably shouldn't pick them, as it would no doubt leave a trail, but it was too tempting and the scenery to isolated for her to resist. "There once was a lord and lady going for a walk along the river. The lord loved the lady, and she him, but as she was promised to another she could never tell him. During their walk he asked if she could ever love him."

The Hyuuga listened carefully, his brow furrowed in concentration. What an odd story; one he probably would have understood better if he weren't so involved watching her fingers delicately twist the flowers together, and he half-smiled when he realized what she was doing. Eternal…a circle of forget-me-nots. How symbolic. "And what did she say?"

TenTen smiled over at him, not needing to see the flowers to continue her activity. "She pointed across the swift flowing water and told him only when he could bring her the blue flowers on the other side. To her horror, the man immediately leapt onto the rocks to make his way across." She removed one of the flowers from her hand and held it out to her companion. "He made it there safely," she pressed it into his hand, "and was on his way back with the prize when he slipped and fell in the water. He could not swim, and as he was drowning he threw the flowers at his beloved's feet with a yell of 'forget me not, true love'."

That was horrible. Neji looked at the flower in his hand. Images of wet flowers being held to a woman's face, tears dripping of sky blue petals and intermingling with the river floated in his mind. He frowned before looking back at TenTen. "And then she went off and got married to her intended?"

"She did, but she always carried the flowers in a locket next to her heart as a sign of where her love truly was." Bright brown eyes closed as she grinned broadly. "Isn't that tragic?"

He nodded before he noted that TenTen wouldn't have been able to see it with her eyes closed. Neji moved closer to her and gently moved her bangs just enough for him to place the tiny blue flower behind her ear. "Yes. It is very tragic," he said quietly, trying not to stare at just how beautiful she looked like that. So serene, with a small piece of sky getting gently tossed along with her hair.

Fingers ran gently along the petals of the tiny flower as another cold breeze blew down the mountain while they stepped over a small icy stream, and she reached up to make sure it stayed where Neji had placed it. "That's how these flowers came to mean true love and memories. According to Ino, anyway." TenTen looked down at the now completed wreath in her hands. Would he understand what she was trying to say? Maybe it didn't matter anyway.

She held out the crown with a half-smile. "Here. We'll match."

Neji blinked at her before bowing slightly so she could place the flowers on top of his head. He felt more than a little ridiculous, to be perfectly honest, but found he couldn't refuse her when he looked in her eyes and saw there how much such a silly thing meant to her. He never could. It was too much to refuse to do something so simple that didn't really hurt him.

The Hyuuga rewarded her with a slightly amused but mostly exasperated smile as they stepped round a tree that had managed to grow somehow in the middle of the meadow. "Thank you, TenTen."

"Now you're the king of the mountains," TenTen laughed in delight, and then again at the way it echoed off the stillness around them, glad there was no one but more flowers and the wind to witness her ridiculous display. "You're the king, with your jeweled crown, and I am your faithful hand maiden."

Neji stopped, shaking his head slightly to rid it of some hair that had managed to come loose. Always playing, his TenTen. He chuckled before bending down and picking up more flowers. He moved slowly behind the girl, who had kept walking, before lacing the flowers into her buns. "How can a king rule without a Queen?" His voice came out very low and quiet, much more than he had intended. That did not matter though, really. TenTen never told his secrets.

Breathe catching in her throat, TenTen felt her hands reflexively clutch at nothing while her heart tried to escape from her rib cage; not seeming to understand that was where it needed to be. Sometimes…sometimes Neji would play along. Those times, she could almost let herself hope he knew all the words she didn't even know how to think. "Very well, if he please to. But, if he wants to raise a lowly handmaid to his side, it will be as milord wishes." And she tried, somewhat awkwardly, to perform a curtsey with an imaginary skirt.

Lowly? Well that was a word Neji would never use to describe TenTen. Ever. "A shame. I do not see any hand maids here." He cupped her chin in his hand and turned her head so she would look directly into his eyes. His throat felt dry and his head pounded so fast it almost hurt. "I only see a princess."

Was that a bad thing to say? Too late to wonder that now.

A most undignified princess, if that were true, as TenTen knew her mouth was hanging open in shock. If only the flush on her face was from the wind alone. "Neji," she began, but didn't know what she meant to say, so she let her voice fade off into nothing.

Now he'd done it. He was at a loss for words and all he could find himself doing was looking at her. He felt himself lean closer so their noses were touching and still no words came to him. He just continued to look into her brown eyes. Their hair blew about their faces in the wind, and Neji knew that TenTen would be able to feel his breath on her face, if he were managing to do so, but right about now he couldn't even begin to think about moving away from her. Not when she was so close.

It was so perfectly romantic she didn't know whether to pull away and laugh at how absurd it was or just run with it. The teenage girl part of her won out with the argument that cavity inducing cliché or not, she might never get another chance like this. Neji hated physical contact, and to have him initiate something like this took complete solitude that only these mountains could give. Maybe he didn't want this—maybe there was something on her face he was inspecting—but she could claim altitude sickness, or something.

Excuse firmly in mind, and shoving the laughter of the nearby brook at the ridiculous situation out of her mind, TenTen allowed her eyes to shut and closed the distance between their lips into nothing.

Her lips were warm in spite of the chilly air, and soft in a way that sent Neji's heart pounding into his ears. His mind was screaming at him. It was telling him how illogical a move this was, how, once they got back to the village, they would have to go back to the way they were.

And yet, he wasn't listening. Because right now, right here, he didn't care. He was with TenTen, and that was all that mattered. He felt his arms move and his hands rested on the curve of her hips as he continued to kiss her. It went against everything he was comfortable with. Yet it was right and he found he couldn't stop. He didn't want to.

Too much, too perfect, too…everything. TenTen didn't know whether to laugh at the movie-like quality of their first kiss or cry from how much it hurt to know that this could not be real. Life didn't work for her like that. It never gave her what she wanted. Reluctantly, she pulled back, calling on her willpower to keep the tears out of her eyes. "What are we doing?"

It was a good question, but it took Neji off guard none-the-less. He blinked at her for a couple of seconds before any words could form in his usually quick mind. What were they doing? They were kissing, enjoying each other the only chance they could and they had stopped. Why? He needed to start thinking straight if they were going to make it through this.

"Well," Neji paused; trying to decide if making this into a joke would be good or bad. He leaned more towards bad, especially since his jokes were never that funny anyway. He looked TenTen in the eyes again, and was startled to see tears threatening to build there. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Failed, flawed excuse that no one ever believed, but unfortunately all she had. "I just…I'm not made for things like this. For mountains with breezes and kisses from kings."

Neji frowned, not sure he had heard her correctly. Either way, he knew he didn't understand. "TenTen…I'm not really a king." It sounded weak, even to him, but he didn't understand. Was this not what she wanted? What they wanted? She was talking in riddles and his brain couldn't keep up with her. Only she could elude and confuse him this way.

"This is perfection," she gestured around at the mountains, then the flowers, then at him. "YOU are perfection. And I still have so far to go to reach even close. Perfect doesn't happen to me. I'm not…not a princess, Neji. I can't be, even close. I'm not made for fairy tales and happy endings. Only those who deserve it can have those."

"How could you not deserve a happy ending?" His brows were furrowed and he was bending slightly so he could try and look at her face as she stared at the sliver of ground between their feet. "I don't think I know anyone else who could deserve one more than you. You are always so kind, brave, and happy. You are strong. If not for yourself, then for those around you. You pull them to their feet, and lead them safely away from harm. If that kind of selfless behavior doesn't deserve happiness, then I don't know what does. He said it all in a rush, but this was new and strange to him. So used to checking his behavior, to hiding and fitting in so no one could find fault in him and decide it was enough to end his life. There was no threat of that here, though.

And how could she say she was imperfect? That was just silly. If being perfect meant she had to act like him, then he would fight against it. No one should ever strive to be like him. They'd better chose a new goal, if he was perfection, because it was not worth it.

What did you say to that, TenTen wondered. She could argue that her short temper caused harm to her treasured people more often than she helped them. That life was a test, and it was not in her's to ever have such happiness handed to her.

Could, but didn't. Not when she knew how hard it was for Neji to say those things dearest to his heart. Only when they were so completely alone could he be himself. The man she knew hid inside the cold sullen boy everyone saw. Only here…"When we return to Konoha, this will never have happened."

He bit his lip, finally breaking the gaze he had fought so hard to keep. Would it have to end? Only if he wanted her safe. The Hyuuga Elders would never see what he did, and would not approve of his choice, and they might even go as far as to hurt her, or make him leave her—which may hurt her worse.

Why did it all have to be so complicated?

"I…I don't want to forget." Neji mumbled, looking down. He felt childish saying it, but he knew it was true. He didn't want this to go away. He was safe here, with her. His TenTen.

Maybe she had been hanging around Guy-sensei and Lee too much. Maybe it was just what she needed to say, or she was hoping it would be the last bit of too perfect this moment could handle. Maybe it was much more difficult to say than that. Whatever the reason, she unwound the flower from behind her ear and, using some grass as well, quickly fashioned a make shift ring. Taking one of Neji's hands in both her smaller ones, she slid it on his finger, pleased it fit so well. "Then don't forget. These flowers…they're blue. Blue is the sky and ocean. It is endless. And they're our flowers. When you see them, you can think of my love for you, and remember today."

Neji stared in wonder down at the ring on his finger. He turned his hand this way and that before looking back up at TenTen and meeting her eyes once more. No…he would not forget. He couldn't. He reached up and took the crown of flowers off his head. Gently, Neji placed the flowers that had fit so perfectly on the top of his head around her neck. He stooped down and picked one last flower and held it to his lips. He then took her hand and placed the flower in it. Once again, his throat was dry and he felt his face go hot as he thought of what he wanted to say.

"True love and memories. That is what a forget-me-not means," he muttered, but kept his white eyes locked on hers. "I love you. Do not forget. I will always come for you."


	3. Confession

**A/N:** There is a common belief that TenTen, and possibly Lee, are Chinese. While that isn't my personal canon, I'm borrowing it for the purpose of this story. My apologies if the Chinese is wrong, it is not a language with which I am familiar, so I had to depend on online translations.

I'm also well aware that there are now hummingbirds in Asia. I, however, don't believe that the Naruto-verse takes place in any real culture/place so I can put what I want there.

_**Threads**  
Confession_

Hummingbird

It was a habit of TenTen's that Neji couldn't figure out. When they spent the night cuddled together-either on a mission where Guy-sensei would ensure that nothing more than cuddling happened ever, or when she'd sneak in through his bedroom window despite the many times he'd told her it was too dangerous-TenTen would wait, cuddled up to his chest, until he was almost asleep, and then she would whisper words he could not understand. It was sort of a sing song language, beautiful, but unintelligible to him.

This time, however, he had a plan. Their conversation and stolen kisses had tapered off to nothing minutes ago, and knowing his TenTen was safe beside him this was usually when Neji felt the most relaxed and would drift to sleep. This time, though he let his body relax and his breath even out, he did not sleep. He waited.

"Wǒ ài nǐ," she whispered, now like she had many times before, "fēng niǎo."

The first time he'd heard it, Neji had tried to puzzle out what it could mean. He'd spent hours after that lying awake, working through every code he could think of. He'd come up with many answers, none of which had made sense. When she continued to say it during those times when she thought he couldn't hear, he'd finally decided on this course of action. "What does that mean?"

The girl in his arms jerked instantly awake, brown eyes peering at him through the half dark as her hands clenched in his night shirt. "What does what mean?"

"What you just said." He'd tried several times to repeat it to others, to ask if they knew what it meant, but he never could make it sound like she could.

Even with only a little light to go by Neji could see TenTen's face light up to a spectacular crimson before she turned it away. "It's just…just a saying. In my mother's native language."

"It's beautiful." He nuzzled her hair in an attempt to get her to look up at him again. Neji hated it when she looked away. It felt too much like everyone else. "What does it mean?"

The silence stretched for several long moments before TenTen whispered so low he nearly couldn't hear. "Wǒ ài nǐ means I love you."

"Really?" It wasn't like they hadn't said this to each other before, but usually only after missions. Only after they nearly lost each other, and there weren't different words. Because, as TenTen said, I love you just didn't seem to cover it. That she would say that to him, so often, without him knowing, Neji wasn't quite sure what to feel. "And the other?"

TenTen groaned softly, burying her face further in his chest. "It's…my nickname. For you."

"Nickname?" His voice was half-a-laugh with a little bit of confusion thrown in for good measure. They didn't do silly sappy things like nicknames, or at least he'd always thought so. "You don't want me to start calling you my cuppy cake, do you?"

"No," and she hit him hard on the chest with the flat of her hand, which Neji had to admit he probably deserved. "I just wanted to have something only I called you, and only to myself."

He rubbed the new bruise with one hand, holding TenTen closer to him as he did so. "Well, if you're talking about me, I probably should know. What is it?"

"Fēng niǎo," and she laughed a little against his neck. "It means hummingbird."

Neji blinked, but the action didn't help him understand at all. "Hummingbird? In what way, exactly, do I remind you of a hummingbird?"

"It's partly because the sound your heart makes when I do this." She tilted her head, kissing a line along his neck and jaw to his ear, and Neji shuddered as he felt her smirk against his skin. "It starts going so fast it nearly hums."

"You shouldn't make fun." The breathless whisper his protest came out in was not threatening. At all. "Why else?"

"Because Guy-sensei calls me his flower," she laughed again, blowing cool air across his skin, making it prickle. "And a flower…a flower helps the hummingbird, by using its blood to help the hummingbird to fly. It depends on the hummingbird too, and can't grow without it. They need each other."

Neji was silent for a while, thinking about this. Leave it to TenTen to turn nectar into blood like that, and to drag out the metaphor. Still it was nice, somehow, to have her admit she needed him, even if it was a rather round about way of doing so. TenTen never openly admitted to needing anyone. "You could have used a bee just as well, you know."

"Had to be a bird, Neji."

"Of course it did."


	4. Euphoria

**A/N:** This one…had several ways I thought about going. I think I like this one best. Title comes from the 80's song 'Heaven is a Place on Earth". I'm sure you know it.

An experiment in pacing, so feel free to critique on that and let me know if it worked for you.

_**Threads**  
Euphoria_

A Place on Earth

**From an Online Medical Dictionary**

Main Entry: **eu•pho•ria**  
Pronunciation: yu-'fOr-E-&, -'for-  
Function: noun  
: a feeling of well-being or elation; especially : one that is groundless, disproportionate to its cause, or inappropriate to one's life situation.

She had a place where she would go, in her head, when things were the worst. When her head and body ached from pushing herself well passed her limits, and the screaming downstairs made the pain spike with every heartbeat. When the sounds of breaking glass and flesh-to-flesh contact filled the night, the smell of alcohol tried to strangle her, and she didn't have anything left to fight it with. When perfect days were interrupted by the coming night. When some main house member made a thinly veiled threat against Neji's life. When he was on Jounin missions, hadn't been heard from in days, overdue to be home, and she just knew he was bleeding somewhere and it was forbidden she go help. If he refused to hold her hand or kiss her in public, afraid someone would see. Afraid that they would hurt her simply because she made him happy. Those times when she looked at her friends, at Ino and Shikamaru, Naruto, Sakura, at everyone else and how happy they were, together, in the light, and unafraid, she would close her eyes and she would go there.

In her fondest dream, Tsunade would send her and Neji on a mission together, just the two of them. What didn't really matter, as long as it was dangerous. Once the mission was complete, they would fake their own deaths-this because Neji wasn't sure if the curse mark had a range, she'd asked him once, and if it was convincing enough no one would ever try and he could be as free as possible. It would upset Guy-sensei and Lee, surely, but they had each other so they would be alright.

Once they were certain no one was looking for them, she and Neji would run away to some small town in a place where there were no ninja. In her mind, they built a little house together by hand. It was nothing special. A small house with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a porch they could sit on together to watch the sunset like Neji loved to do. And she could watch the colors reflect in his eyes like she loved to do. And they could do it every night because it wouldn't matter if anyone saw them together a little too often.

She'd find work, sometimes a blacksmith, sometimes a detective, sometimes a teacher, and Neji would stay home and write books. He loved to write, though nobody knew. He would sit on the porch and write stories of their adventures, but masked so well that nobody would guess.

In her mind, they were poor, with nothing left over for extras once bills were paid and food purchased, but they were so happy. Because nothing could separate them again.

Sometimes it was eternally summer at their house. Other times she thought of warm fires and silver winter nights. Once or twice she had wondered about children to fill the second room of the little house with giggles.

Mostly, she just wondered, if she didn't spend a little too much time in her fantasy place. Each day it got a little harder to leave behind the place where she was safe and happy. Where she and Neji were finally together in the ways they could not be now. And she was afraid.

Afraid that someday, she just might not leave at all.


	5. Point of View

**A/N:** Inspired by the Neil Diamond song "Shilo", which is where this story gets its title. The name Shilo means "His Gift", which makes it a perfect title for this story, don't you think?

This doesn't work with my personal canon at all, and is totally separate from that. It was just something fun for me to write.

**WARNINGS:** A bit of cursing and brief mention of sex.

_**Threads**  
Point of View_

Shilo

We have been around longer than nearly any tree in the area. Some of the ones outside the wall have bragging rights, we suppose, but for a willow we have been around a respectably long time. We were here when they started building the houses where all the white eyed people lived, and they had built around us, leaving our roots room to spread into the pond in which they placed their fish.

We don't mind the company. Many people have come to sit under our drooping leaves, protected from the sun at all angles. We have seen many proposals, and watched as those who were once children playing under our branches grew and had children of their own.

Yes, for a willow our life has been quite long. But we are dying now. Our roots no longer take in water like they use to, and our head has gotten heavy with leaves that touch the ground and water, growing so thick that those closest to our trunk no longer receive sunlight. The end of our life is near.

We hope, however, to see one more moment of sweet love before we move on. These little ones have always been our favorite. The two we have seen many times over the years, though for the last several they have never come by together.

We remember the beautiful girl sitting in the protection of our branches as she used to be. Before, when her long hair was put in two braids instead of two buns, and the now flawless skin was covered in sun-kissed freckles. We remember her laughter, though it has been long since we heard it. She is waiting for her companion. We know this. She has waited many times, though he has not come.

Always, in the past, she had been the leader in their games. When they had played house, using our leaves for their home, she was the Mommy who went off and fought enemy ninja, while he was the Daddy that stayed home and took care of their baby doll. The boy, with his pale skin and even paler sad eyes, had never minded, except when she died on the battle field and couldn't come home to him and the baby. That's when he would protest and tell her he wouldn't play anymore if she kept doing that.

We had always laughed, as she had pouted at him. She always told him when they were grown up and married for real he wouldn't be able to just quit when it was hard; he told her he wasn't going to let her die when he was a grown ninja. They always argued after that, and it would be days before either would come to us again, and then they would apologize and be friends once more.

Betrothed, they called each other. Sometimes they laughed it, sometimes used it as a curse. The last time they were here together, she had laughed it and said the Hokage shouldn't put a husband and wife together on a team. They are not really, we know, but they will be.

After that day, something changed, though we do not know what. The boy would come often, usually just sitting between the roots of our trunk, with his white eyes closed. Every once and a while he would walk up to sit in our branches and read a scroll. Always the same scroll. Always it made him cry, and we would ache to make his pain stop.

The girl came too, at different times. Sometimes she would read books, or write on scrolls, or sketch pictures in a little book. Mostly, she would play with our leaves in one hand while she would stare at the houses across the pond.

Tonight was different. Tonight she was there, and the boy was too, slipping as a silent shadow through the curtain of our leaves.

"I'm glad you came, Neji," the girl whispers, turning around and approaching our trunk. She leans against us, and we offer her what support our failing body can. "I wasn't sure you would. It's been so long since I gave you a note telling you to meet in our place."

"I haven't forgotten." What he means by this, we do not know. From the lost look on his face, we do not think he does either.

"You're turning twenty next month," she says, and though it is a simple statement her voice wavers. "They're going to expect us to get married soon if you don't call it off."

The boy sits down, his curtain of dark hair imitating our leaves in hiding his face as it falls forward. "Is that what you want, TenTen, really? To break the contract?"

She reaches out for him, but pulls her hand back to rest against our trunk without ever reaching him. "Our parents made that contract when we were barely old enough to talk, Neji. It's another decision made for you, and I know how you hate those. I'd do it myself, but I'd have to refund the dowry and I…I can't. But there is no consequence for you. You can be free of this. Of me."

Silence for long minutes, and though we try and whisper to them that it is alright, they can love each other even if they were told to, we know they cannot hear. The boy looks up, no emotion in his starlight eyes. "That didn't answer my question. Is it what you want?"

"I don't want you to marry me because you have to." She says, eyes downcast and shoulders slumped. "I won't be another lock on your cage. What I want is for you to have the chance to do what you want."

He stands, closing the distance between them so their bodies are so close even our falling leaves cannot fit through, though they do not touch. "Why won't you give me a straight answer? Do you want to marry me or not, TenTen?"

The defiance in her spirit is back. We can tell by the way she lifts her chin and finally meets his gaze. "I love you, and that's why…that's why if you're still too afraid to make the decision I'll make it for you, consequences be damned. Someday, yes. I've always dreamed of being Mrs. Neji Hyuuga. Of being with you and starting a family with you. But I won't be a burden. Someone you begrudge going home to every night. Making love to. You mean too much to me for that. I'm worth more than that."

For a moment, we are afraid, as he once again says nothing. We do not want our last memories of this world to be the breaking of something that has always brought us such joy. But these fears are erased when he leans down and kisses her bare forehead lightly. "Then just wait for me a little longer. Let me help get things settled in the clan so you can bear that name with pride, and we will wed. Because we want to."

It is the perfect moment we hope for, as our leaves continue to fall in the soft midnight breeze. This is the close of our lives, but the beginning of their. A circle, and perfect.


	6. Rose

**A/N:** Tried a LOT of new stuff with this one. Particularly interested in how it works for you.

**WARNINGS:** ANGST.

_**Threads**  
Rose_

Beauty of the Thorn

The moonlight was drowning out even the air around her, bathing everything in TenTen's small apartment with ghostly light that drained all color. It seemed fitting that she had come to live for these times when sound, light, and color meant nothing more than they did in the grave.

If she had a ring on her finger, the light would surely have caught it. How foolish to think that. How foolish to want it, when it would only betray her position to enemies.

Ring. Ring. Ring around the rosies.

She lay on her side, back towards the rising moon, her fingers playing idly with the curtain of russet hair as her lover slept beside her. With the light reflecting off his pale skin he seemed to glow, like an ethereal being from some other realm. A spirit who was only staying there the night, and would evaporate at dawn.

Here lies TenTen, in a small one bedroom apartment and the illusion of something that might be love.

How long had it been now? Seven years, maybe eight. How old was Higure now? She didn't even know, and that knowledge stung. She didn't even know how old her own son was? Hikiake was three now, she knew that much. With her wide white eyes and reddish hair, that Hinata always kept up in pigtails at Neji's request. That meant Higure had to be six, and it was seven years since Hyuuga Hiashi had ruined everything that had once been TenTen.

It was the simplest way to unite the two houses. Neji's wedding to Hinata, an event she remembered as the day filled with white, had brought an end to the hatred that had divided the family, uniting them under the pair as leaders. But the death of all of TenTen's dreams had not been the birth of love as Hiashi had hoped. Neji always told her that Hinata would always, to him, be a beloved little sister-spoiled and indulged but never desired. Not the way he always had her.

She tried to comfort herself with that while she waited in the tomb-like silence of her apartment, but it gave little.

It had bothered her, at first, that she was technically the other woman in Neji's life-no matter that the lack of physical desire was a mutual thing. By now she was dead to the guilt and the whispers that followed her of those ninja that dared to wonder where the Hyuuga children had gotten their red hair.

Perhaps that's what bothered her the most. The cold aching numbness that had replaced every shred of integrity she had. The joy that had used to fill her waking hours was now twisted, decaying into a longing for the quiet hours of dark when Neji would come to her and she could pretend, for a little while, that they were a real, living family. That the children he gave her would be hers to keep, instead of being taken and raised to call another Mommy.

It had seemed so simple when she'd gotten pregnant that first time. She would give the child to Neji and Hinata to raise, allowing them to have the heir they needed and her to avoid the financial strain of raising a child alone. Hinata would fake a pregnancy, something that was surprisingly easy to do, while TenTen would hide hers. How blissfully ideal. How foolish.

She had held him, her beautiful, perfect child-her Higure-for only a few heartbeats before the child had been taken to Hinata so she could present him to her father. It was she that Neji had to dote upon, pretend that she was the mother of his child, while she waited in agonizing silence for his next chance to slip away.

Even that had settled into a chilling numbness until Neji proudly told her that Higure had spoken his first word. Mama. When she had realized that it was not her face her perfect boy saw when he said that word, that he didn't even know who she was, she had cried in the warm space Neji left on the pillow for the first time in over year.

With Hikiake, she had tried not to get attached. Attempted to fool herself with everyone else that it was Hinata that was expecting a child, and little TenTen was still virginal, childish, and alone. She ignored the fluttering movements and fledgling heartbeats. She looked away when they delivered her. Still, when she closed her eyes, she could see that face with Neji's eyes and jaw, but her nose, her lips, her long thick red hair.

Hate, then, had crept into the dark room. Not for Neji, her rose among the lilies, but for his family. For the woman who could have stood up to her father without consequence and didn't. The one who taught her children their ABC's and nothing of their real mother who was not even allowed within the compound walls.

The moon wondered, she knew, and so did Neji if these stolen moments of love where really worth it. If it was love at all.

TenTen didn't wonder. To have Neji lying beside her, safe as her arms held him and she kissed his hair with ghostly touches, was worth any crown of thorns she had to bare. She had succeeded in protecting his reputation and the united family he had worked so hard for. She had given her heart, her soul, for his dream. It might not be love, she didn't know, but if she told herself anything else then it would be impossible to rise again.

Ring. Ring around…


	7. Family

**WARNINGS:** Pre-marital sex is mentioned. If you're not comfortable with this, which I understand, don't read it. Also contains references to my past for TenTen. For more on that, please see my 'Curry of Love' stories.

_**Katana  
By: Reggie**_

It was ironic that her entire life hung on what happened in the next two minutes, and she wasn't even in battle.

No, instead, her fate rested almost completely on this little strip that she'd had to pee on, and now could only wait until it made up its mind whether she had a future or not. Well, no, that wasn't fair. It wasn't the fault of the strip if she didn't. That was all her, with a little help from Neji.

They hadn't meant for it to happen. Of course they hadn't, or it wouldn't have, because they'd both agreed to wait. Wait until Neji had his clan fixed so their family wouldn't have to face the trials he had as a child. Until TenTen had reached Jounin level and had a team of her own that would keep her in the village so she could be with her kids. Until she was sure that she would never be the kind of mother she had. Until they were a real family, with rings and photo albums, and all that stuff so Guy-sensei wouldn't come unglued on them and see them as irresponsible children.

In a weird way, this was partly Guy-sensei's fault. If he hadn't gone and gotten himself almost killed on that mission so that Kakashi-sensei had to come wake her in the middle of the night to say good-bye, just in case, she wouldn't have had to seek comfort from Neji in the dark midnight hours.

She wouldn't have wound up in Neji's bed for cuddles, long kisses, and the promise that someone would still love her if she lost the man who had been her father figure for over a decade now. Somehow those kisses of comfort had melted with the darkening of the night into kisses of passion, and the usual voice of warning in her head had been strangely silent while fear and clothing were stripped away. She had been too afraid for their teacher, of being left so totally alone, that there wasn't room inside her to be afraid of consequences. There had only been space for Neji and the need to know that someone loved her enough to hold, and touch, and kiss. Everything else faded in the dawn until it was just the two of them, sweaty and tangled together in his sheets.

Maybe they had been irresponsible children. They'd certainly behaved like it afterwards. Or maybe that was just her. Neji seemed inclined to recognize that she was his first, to continue that deeper love they had felt. Only TenTen knew they couldn't, because that kind of love was dangerous. It was leaving their weaknesses exposed to the enemy, something she'd been trained from birth not to do. It had made things tense and awkward for the two months.

This wasn't going to help them any, if Anko's statement was correct.

Just the thought of the older kunoichi still sent TenTen's blood boiling. Who had given her permission to swoop in and ruin her life like this anyway? TenTen had just been walking down the road, minding her own business, when she'd run into the purple haired woman. Anko had stopped, pushing the dango in her mouth to one side while she grinned wolfishly, leaning down to pat TenTen's stomach.

"Due in December," Anko had said simply. "The father Neji or some other poor sap from a mission? Little surprised you were that careless, to be honest."

She hadn't been able to process that. It was as if Anko was speaking another language altogether, one she had heard but didn't know. "I…what?"

Anko took a bite of her dumplings, speaking around the mouthful. "I've seen it all the time. That bulge on your belly, you'll have a crying, pooping, slobbery bundle of joy in December. My congratulations."

She couldn't help being a bit insulted in spite of her shock. Hinata was seven months pregnant with her and Lee's twins. That was a baby bulge. The two or three pounds of weight she'd put on from stress eating while her sensei was recovering was not. Then she had remembered the feel of Neji all around her, the smell of his soap in her hair, on her skin, his kisses on every part of her, and it was enough to make her wonder. Enough for fear and dread to choke her until she needed to prove to herself that it wasn't true.

Which was why she was locked in the bathroom in the apartment, waiting with sinking fear as she stared in the mirror at her reflection and the stupid stick sat on a plastic cup on the sink. What would she do if it turned out positive?

She could always tell Neji that it was a mission baby. She'd been on kunoichi missions before, she'd known and experienced sex since she'd turned seventeen. Though she'd always been careful about protection during those times, rare as they were, Neji couldn't know that. She could claim that and spare him the reality she herself could not avoid.

What they had shared that night though…Neji had loved her, in a way no one else had ever tried. They had touched souls, and from that maybe something had been created. If it had, did she really have a right to cut him off from that? He'd mentioned before that he wanted to be the kind of father his own had been. He wanted children, and a family, even if TenTen herself was still unsure.

It was too late to be unsure. Possibly as much as two months too late.

Two minutes was up, and she had to close her eyes and gather her courage before she could look. No matter what happened, she had to be positive. She had to be strong. She'd survived her life this far, she could keep going. She could.

The little blue plus sign looking back at her so infuriated the young kunoichi that she threw it, with a good dose of chakra behind it, at the mirror so that it shattered.

She sank to her knees among the broken glass and sobbed.


	8. Night

This is sort of a follow up for Katana. It's the same verse anyway. I'm taking a break from Fan Fiction to work on my own novel, so this may or not be my last fic for a while. We'll see.

_**Dusk**_

_My Dearest TenTen,_

_I think you know what it means if you're reading this. You've seen me write these before every mission, and burn them afterwards. You've asked, and I always told you not to worry. That it was just something I had to do._

_They don't contain any great secret. No confidential clan information that I want you to know, or anything like that. It's just me, trying to tell you, everything I couldn't find the words to do before. Because when I meet my father, I want to do it without regrets._

_**Trembling, trembling. It was hard to read the words when the paper shook so badly.**_

_**This wasn't happening. It wasn't real. Neji had promised it would only be a few days.**_

Lee had been nearly killed getting the information for this mission, and unable to finish. Someone, she still didn't know who, had suggested that Neji take up where their teammate had left off. That he leave behind his eight month pregnant wife for a week to complete the assignment and keep Team Guy's perfect record.

"I'll be back before you can even miss me, I promise."

"Neji, don't go." She clung to him, digging her fingers like claws into his flax jacket. "Please. Tell them your sick, that I'm sick, but don't go. I have a sick feeling about this. Like this is the last time I…don't go."

"I'm a ninja of the leaf. I have to."

_You never believe me when I say I love you. I can see the doubt in your eyes before you smile. You don't think it's possible for anyone to love you._

_All you see is a silly little girl with no family to call her own. One with red hair and the temper to match it. With eyes the color of dirt, who stumbles over her own words, who is awkward and pushy. You see a girl who manipulates people to get what she wants, who insults without hesitation and causes trouble for those she loves._

_But that's not what I see._

_**Was she supposed to cry? Laugh? Both, maybe, like some crazy person? She didn't really feel like either. She didn't feel anything at all.**_

Her arms had been suddenly empty as he pulled away, stepping off the porch into the rain.

She felt sick, weak, and dizzy as he turned away. She wanted to fight for him, aching to hold him to her chest and not allow him up again. It was empty, and cold, and she was small and powerless to fight against the tide that was pulling her down too fast. "Neji! Neji, please!"

He didn't turn around, didn't even hesitate, and the overwhelming thought that she would not get another chance to see those pale eyes she loved so much sent her to her knees.

_When I look at you, my wife, I see a woman like no one else. The kind of woman the world needs more of._

_I see someone who will stand and fight for what she believes, no matter what lies down that road. A woman who loves to deeply, too much, for human understanding. You feel everything with all your soul, because you know no other way to do so. Give all and take nothing._

_I see a woman that would lay her life down for anyone, even her enemy, simply because they are human, and deserve that much. A defender and protector._

_My free bird, who laughs daily at the things that try and hold her down._

_**Was she spinning? The world certainly was. All the blood must have drained out the hole in her heart, because it wasn't anywhere else.**_

The promise week turned into two. Then three.

She tried to busy herself preparing for the baby, but she could only rearrange the clothing so many times. Neji was so sure it was going to be a little girl, but secretly TenTen hoped for a boy. One that was like his daddy, with a quiet gentle spirit and thoughtful eyes. She wanted to name him Hizashi, after his grandfather.

She wasn't sure how Neji would feel about that, and he wasn't here to ask.

That's when there had been the knock on the door.

_I've told you before all the reasons I love you. For your compassion and sincerity. For your loyalty, your laughter, your bright shining love. You, and you alone, were the key to my cage. You taught me that I could change who I was and what happened to me. That I didn't have to accept what was, and had the responsibility to change what I thought was unfair. _

_I believed for so long that saying I didn't believe in fate, and making myself accept what was without trying was not the same as what I had been doing before. You showed me that it wasn't enough. That I had to do something, that I could. And I did, because you believed._

_**There was a haze over her vision. She couldn't read the words anymore, but she knew them. She knew what they were.**_

"Lee?" Her childhood friend was soaking from the December rain, but his eyes were red rimmed from tears. His shoulders still shook with suppressed sobs. The strength to stand fled, and she had to lean on the door for support. "What happened? Where's Neji?"

His hands were shaking so hard it was amazing the paper didn't tear as he held out an envelope addressed to her. "Tsunade said that…that his teammate brought this back with him when…no one else…God, TenTen, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

_I wanted to be there with you when our little girl came. I know she'll be beautiful and strong, like you. I know you'll raise her well. Whatever you think, you believe, I know you're going to be the best the mother the world has ever seen._

_Having a family with you was my greatest dream, TenTen. I wanted so badly to be the kind of father mine never had the chance to be._

_Since you're reading this, I guess I didn't either._

_I just ask one thing of you. Don't let her forget that her daddy loved her, though he didn't have the chance to know her. And please, don't you forget that I loved you. I will always love you._

_My minx. My freebird. My wife. My—_

_**Darkness. Inside and outside. The world was upside down and she was falling up.**_

"TenTen? TenTen!"

_TenTen._


	9. Purple

**A/N:** I'm currently at an impasse with my novel, so while I'm sorting that out I decided I'd go back and use one of the two Nejitenplz prompts I hadn't used yet, just to get the juices flowing after a few days of writing nothing at all.

How does the theme relate to the story? Try looking up Purple on Wiki (in particular the book "The Color Purple" and information on the Purple Heart).

_**Threads  
**All The Pretty**  
**_

The cold inky void on the bed next to him made Neji's heart ring in his ears. He wasn't sure when he'd fallen asleep, but he was certain that his wife had been there when he did. It was storming now, and she was no where to be found.

With a powerful burst of chakra, he turned his all-seeing eyes this way and that, frantically searching the compound. TenTen was supposed to stay with him at all times. She had promised she would. For three weeks now she had seemed distant, not quite together, and she had promised she would stay beside him because he worried for her.

It was raining hard outside, with lightening oddly distorting his vision as he searched every corner of the compound without moving an inch. She wasn't inside, and he widened his search desperately. It was too soon. He wouldn't loose her. He couldn't.

There was no particular relief when he found her, and he jumped to his feet. Not bothering with trivial things like a shirt or shoes, Neji rushed out into the freezing rain and down the hill. It was just a corner of the compound surrounded by trees and bordered on two sides by the large walls. Before three weeks ago, he hadn't given it much thought at all. He knew, but hadn't processed, what the compound grave yard really meant. A resting place for Hyuuga who were no ninja or had a not died in battle.

A place for babies who hadn't ever really had a chance.

If he'd thought about it, Neji would have check here first. TenTen had stopped by every day, even when he'd asked her not to, and all the time kept looking longingly out the window at the tree line whenever she thought he wasn't looking. He understood her pain, he really did, but he didn't know how to reach her. She was a night breeze to him.

TenTen was sprawled across the slick black stone, her thin blue night shirt clinging to her from the driving rain. She was so still and pale that for a moment all he almost thought he was back at the hospital. She'd been pale then, too, but all around her bright, almost magenta, blood sticking to everything.

He hadn't understood it all, but something had happened so the baby wasn't attached where it was supposed to be anymore. Sakura's hands had been stained and shaking as she'd tried to direct him out. "Your baby wasn't strong enough. I'm sorry, but the lack of oxygen…We did all that we could, Neji. We're doing what we can to save TenTen, but…prepare yourself."

For five months they'd planned for this baby. They were going to name him Hizashi, after his father, and he'd watched with fascination as his wife's belly had gradually began to expand. As TenTen had gone from frightened at the idea of this child, that she would be like her parents, to excited and determined to prove how far she'd come. She'd dreamed of holding him, confided in Neji that she hoped he had his eyes. They had his room mostly ready. Now it was just an empty crib covered in dust and shards of dreams.

Several horrible seconds passed where he thought that he would have to put his wife in the ground next to the son he would never hold now. But she was shivering, and a corpse didn't shiver. And they didn't sing.

"Hush-a-bye," Neji heard her sob softly over the pounding rain. "Don't you cry. Go…to sleepy little baby. And when…when you wake…"

He dropped by her side, trying to rouse her from whatever stupor she had fallen in to by softly calling her name.

Brown eyes fluttered open, closing again briefly until he leaned forward to shield her face from the falling water. "Neji," her voice was scratchy from sleep. "Neji, he was crying, I heard him. The storm, he was frightened…"

Should tell her that dead babies can't be afraid. That she was trying to protect a lifeless stone and a small box of ashes, not a person. Didn't. "You're a good mother, TenTen. He's alright now. Come back inside."

"I can't." She turned away from him, her fingers tracing the characters he'd seen her practicing writing just hours before she was screaming in pain. "He needs me. I can't leave him. What if he gets scared again, and I don't hear him? He needs his mommy."

A void where words should be in his mind was all he found when he tried to find something to say to comfort her.

She knew the baby was dead. He was sure that TenTen knew in her heart that was nothing more she could do for their child. It was convincing the part of her that had dared, for the first time, to dream that she needed to let go that was the problem. That what they were suffering was in no way her fault, there was nothing to make up for. No way to make it right. No magic cure for this new scar, new bruise, on both their souls.

Neji knelt beside her, pulling her into his arms as she began to sob violently, probably reading on his face what he couldn't say out loud. There was nothing.

He kissed her forehead, knowing the points to place chakra that were force her into a dreamless sleep—but one she would awaken from. It was all he could do for her, just like all she could do was try to keep water off a stone. He had no idea if his efforts would be any more successful.

Cradling her now limp form to his bare chest, he trudged his way up the hill. He had to carry her through this, maybe, but they would get through. Neji could not accept losing her, whatever siren's call the purple night held for her. He would not let go.


	10. When You Say Nothing At All

_**Safety**_

Laying stretched out across three dryers was doing weird things to her abdominal muscles. In some ways it was probably more of a work out than she'd gotten in the week since her wedding day. She and Neji had defied all their friends predictions and let training take a back seat during their honeymoon. There had been other, more interesting, things to do.

TenTen grinned to herself at this, running her tongue around the cherry lollipop she was currently enjoying. Those new extracurricular activities were the reason she and Neji were currently locked in the small laundry room at the Hyuuga compound, using all of the machines to wash everything they owned. Neji was stripped down to his very lost pair of boxers—which he intended to wash with the last load when a new pair was clean—while she had on one of his shirts that went well passed her knees and nothing else.

She could get rather used to this marriage thing.

The best part of this late night activity, however, was not the pleasurable view. It was the utterly perplexed look on Neji's face as he looked at the baskets of cloth at his feet, up at her, to the washing machines, and back down the line again.

Maybe if she hadn't laughed at his confession about never having done laundry himself before he wouldn't have insisted on doing this himself. It hadn't even really been the idea that he'd survived 22 years without doing a load that had made her laugh, either; it was that he was embarrassed to have his usual laundress, Hinata, wash their sheets.

Personally, TenTen didn't see the problem. They were newly weds, Hinata would have known what to expect. Then again, maybe she was missing the point and that was the whole issue.

"You have to separate them first," she said cheerfully, licking her cherry treat as she sat up.

Someone was going to come for the loads in the dryer eventually. She couldn't wait to have to explain this to them. Hopefully it would be Hiashi. The Hyuuga clan head had attempted to give Neji a talk about performing his duties as a husband that had had them both leaving his office red faced and flustered. It would be a lot of fun to get a glimpse of his face when he realized the performance wasn't an issue for the Hyuuga genius.

She choked a little on her sucker as she tried not to laugh too hard at that mental image.

Neji quirked an eyebrow at her and shook his head, seeming to decide he didn't really want to know. That was probably a wise decision, as he would have been mortified to know what was going through her mind. She was tempted to tell him anyway, just to see what he would do. The look of unabashed horror that would cross his face whenever she did something totally outlandish always made it worth any embarrassment she might have felt.

Sometimes she wondered how he put up with her. They were, as it seemed everyone needed to point out, so very different.

Where Neji had been raised to be comfortable with walls, borders, etiquette, and masks, TenTen was bound only by her own desires. She could, and did, do as she pleased with just about everything. With no parents, no family, no real past that she knew of, there had never been anything to tie her down.

It had taken Neji two years to convince her that a steady relationship with him wouldn't set limits on her freedom, and three more to get her to agree that having some place to really and truly call home was not only pleasant, but desirable.

He gave her a place to rest her wings when she grew weary of taking on the world alone, and though he protected her, he worked hard to never keep her behind him. They were partners, and he made sure she knew it.

Even his willingness to learn how to do laundry said something.

That didn't mean, though, that it was off limits to give him a bad time about it. He'd think something was wrong if she didn't. "I can see my underwear in your white's pile. You should probably take it out if you don't want pink shirts."

Neji glanced up at her, pale eyes widening a little, as if pleading with her to move it herself.

TenTen could only laugh, pulling her knees up to her chest and pushing the stick of her sucker to the side of her mouth. "What's with the face? You had no problem taking them off of me."

With a scowl, Neji crossed the room to stand in front of her. There was silence for several moments before, with a smirk, Neji reached out and stole the sucker from her mouth. He gave it one long slow lick before he put it in his own mouth, and turned around to get back to his separating.

Only then did TenTen's heart slow down enough for her brain to work, and she let out a indignant yelp before standing and launching herself at Neji's back. He caught her easily, swinging her around to land on her back in the pile of the dirty clothes. One pale hand removed the sucker from his mouth so he could kiss her until her breath came only in gasps and her eyes were closed.

When she opened them again, she was being buried as he continued his sorting on top of her, but she found it difficult to care. No sucker and no shaky ground, maybe, but she had Neji. That was enough.


	11. Waitress

**WARNINGS:** OC usage. Because I've yet to do a NejiTen with children fic where one of those kids survive, have I? Enjoy this, then.

**_Table for Two_  
**

TenTen glanced at her husband over the rim of her glass, fighting off a grin with little success. It was hard to decide whether he was dressed up or down for this oh so special dinner. True, he was in a kimono, but it was a simple dark colored cotton one that would be easy to clean and hide stains well. Obviously, he expected things to get messy.

Considering the staff for this anniversary meal, she couldn't blame him. She'd dressed very much the same.

Her amusement was only increased as she watched Neji's hand twitch on the table cloth. It was obvious he was fighting against his instinct to just reach over and take the match from Hibari. To be fair, having their tiny nine-year-old blind daughter light candles wasn't exactly an easy thing to sit through. The worst that would happen were some burnt finger tips, though, and it was probably a good idea for her to learn how long it took a match to burn anyway.

Her dark auburn hair was pulled back well away from the flames, and if Hibari put the flame close enough to her face to catch the bangs that hung down in her eyes on fire, TenTen would have been really impressed. There wasn't really in danger of her catching her clothing on fire, either, as her pink and white kimono was short sleeved, and all loose pieces had been kindly pinned up for her.

That didn't stop Neji from wanting to do it for her, like he always did.

He finally caved, a little, and TenTen grinned as he spoke quietly, "you're too far to the left."

"I can do it," Hibari chirped back, though she did slowly move in the right direction, obviously trying not to knock over the candle she had already successfully lit.

It was impossible to keep from grinning at the woefully expression Neji sent her way. From the start, Neji had been protective of their youngest daughter. Maybe it was the circumstances she'd been born in. Hibari was their blessing baby—the one they didn't know existed until she decided to pop out while she and Neji were in the middle of enemy territory. A ninja from the moment she drew her first breath, with dark auburn hair and milky chai tea colored eyes.

The tiny infant who rarely cried and was three months old before they realized she couldn't see.

Neji hated letting her do anything that might cause her harm, and it was only through lots of patient explanation that TenTen had gotten him to understand that Hibari had to make mistakes or she wouldn't learn, just like any other child. It might take Hibari longer, but she'd get there. Just like she'd learn to be the greatest ninja Konoha had ever seen, in spite of Neji's objections to her being enrolled in the Academy at all.

Sometimes, TenTen thought, he loved that girl too much.

Three matches later and both green candles were successfully lit, and Hibari grinned proudly around the small pink digits she was currently sucking on. Fourteen-year-old Hotaru removed these from her sister's mouth as she walked by, scowling a little when Hibari stuck her tongue out at her.

Hotaru was dressed in her fine silk sky blue kimono, her long brown hair up in an elegant twist instead of its usual two braids. The kimono had once belonged to TenTen, a first anniversary gift from Neji, but thirteen years and three children later, it was much better suited for Hotaru's figure than her mother's.

If forced, under torture, to pick the daughter who was her favorite, the one she was closest to, TenTen had to say it was Hotaru. Neji had been gone for the first year of her life, leaving TenTen to raise her alone and the closeness they had developed then never really faded. Hotaru with her serious, by the book personality, and failure to understand any and all social cues just reminded TenTen too much of Neji as he'd been as a child.

It was endearing.

Hotaru bowed low, pausing to send a slightly miffed look at the lock of hair that fell down into her face, though she didn't break posture to push it back. "I hope you are having a lovely evening."

TenTen looked at the empty low table in front of them, the ivory table cloth that had somehow become stained, the flickering candles, and the glasses of apple juice. Neji's eyes met her's across the flickering flames, and they shared knowing looks. It wasn't her favorite Chinese restaurant, where he had proposed, but their kitchen floor had its own sort of appeal. "Yes, thank you."

There was a crisp nod from Hotaru as she straightened, removing a couple of menus from under her arm. They were folded perfectly center on white paper, the characters inside written with the exacting precision that only their oldest daughter could accomplish. Each of these was placed in front of one of her parents. "I will be your waitress this evening. I'll start you off with…" Hotaru looked over her shoulder at the white sheet that was hung between her parents and the rest of the kitchen.

"Edamame," came the whispered voice from behind, their middle daughter busily working away on the food.

"Would you like something to drink with that?" Hotaru asked them eagerly, not bothering to repeat what they had heard.

"I'll take just water, thank you," Neji murmured, scarcely glancing up from his menu. That's how he always was at restaurants, and TenTen rolled her eyes fondly.

"I'll have the same."

Nodding sharply once more, Hotaru stood, ducking behind the sheet to access the refrigerator.

Each of the items listed on the menu was a simple dish, well within the capabilities of their 12-year-old ball of sunshine. TenTen 'hm'ed a little, peering over the top of her menu at her husband. "So, come here often?"

"No, not very," Neji dead panned, and Hibari giggled. For all his genius, Neji was notoriously bad in the kitchen, seemingly incapable of making anything not labeled as instant. His legend for disaster was only topped by TenTen's. She's melted the instant containers once or twice.

Where Hachiko had gotten her cooking skills remained a mystery to her mother. With red hair, cropped short to keep the thick curls tamable, Hachiko probably looked the most like her mother in spite of her byakugan eyes, but they were as unalike as zebra and penguins.

Always smiling, trusting, loving Hachiko, who wouldn't hurt a soul and believed with all her young heart that the world and the people in it were good and were her friends. Neji called her his Honey Bear, and TenTen couldn't think of a more apt description. She was so unlike either of them, but it was impossible not to love her.

TenTen just wished she'd take her ninja training a little more seriously. It was easier to get Hibari to agree to target practice then to convince Hachiko to do more with her chakra than blow butterflies around with it.

"Don't suppose you have any recommendations, then?" She grinned at her husband, and he simply shook his head. If it wasn't fish soba, he didn't tend to show much interest.

"I think you should have the Oyakodon," Hibari said cheerfully, plopping down on TenTen's right. "Hachiko-neechan did a practice one yesterday, and it was really good. She did something with the sugar and chicken, I don't know."

"Don't you have a job to do?" Neji's foot brushed over TenTen's bent knees as he sought out Hibari under the table to nudge. "You're ruining the romantic atmosphere."

Hotaru choose that moment to reappear, glasses in hand and the bowl of soybeans on her head. She sent a dark look at her younger sister, one that their daughter could no doubt sense but was choosing to ignore.

The edamame had no sooner been set down than Hibari was reaching for them, grasping a handful and quickly shelling them. "I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure a date in your house doesn't count as romantic."

"You are no expert," and Neji winked at her, smiling the way he did only for her. "Anytime I'm with your mother, it's romantic."

Somehow, even after all these years together, Neji still managed to make her blush like a teenage girl, and she had to look away or it would just get worse because he was looking at her like she was the center of the entire universe. In his mind, she was.

That was how they'd gotten through everything—an unplanned pregnancy, three kids, several life threatening events, a year apart—with relatively few scars to show for it. He hadn't let her duck and run when it was hard, because he loved her too much to let go.

"Then I'm not really making a difference." Hibari shrugged, popping one of the small beans in her mouth.

"I'll take your orders for dinner," Hotaru said loudly, eye visibly twitching as Hibari tried to throw a soybean in her mouth and hit her forehead. "After the main course there will be dorayaki for dessert."

There was a gasp from behind the curtain, and a small, "my azuki beans, I forgot, oh no!"

This was followed by several loud bangs that caused TenTen to wince and a squeak accompanied by the whoosh of something highly flammable catching fire. Hotaru paled slightly, saying nothing as she dashed back to fight off whatever chaos was happening in the kitchen of this small restaurant.

"Still romantic?" Hibari quipped cheerfully, tossing another bean in the air to try and catch.

Neji snatched it out of the air, putting it to the side of his chopsticks. "I told you, Hibari-chan. Anytime."


	12. Vengaence

**WARNINGS:** Character death, and POV character is an OC.

**Notes:** Tenmou means "heaven's vengeance". Adding –hime to the end makes it something like Princess or Lady of Heaven's Vengeance.

This one isn't a NejiTenPlz prompt, but listening to the song 'Madam Guillotine' from "The Scarlet Pimpernel" musical this morning gave me the idea. If you can find it, listen to the song, and then read this fic. Then listen to the song again. It works so much better that way.

_**Vengeance Victorious**_

Having lived nearly seventy years now, Hideyo had seen many things. He'd seen war, murdered children and innocents, and he'd seen the beauty of a first snowfall on a high mountain. What he had never seen before was the Cadet Branch is such fervor.

They called it Tenmou-hime, though no one knew for certain if the creature was even a woman. Hideyo himself was doubtful of this. No woman alive could take out six Hyuuga elders.

That's what had them all the most excited. Starting just two weeks ago, Elders in the main branch were dying nearly every other day. One by one, they were being systematically butchered. The first one they thought was an accident, the second an apparent suicide. By now it seemed clear this was a deliberate massacre.

The whole compound was on high alert, and the Hokage had posted ANBU guards at stations all around. Still this phantom managed to slip through, undetected, and wipes them out one at a time.

A swiftly moving shadow caught his attention, and Hideyo turned, ready to attack. Only a leaf, knocked down by the night breeze, met his all-seeing gaze in the half-moon light.

Hideyo was one of the Elders with the opinion that somehow the Cadet Branch was helping it. Tenmou-hime was swiftly becoming their hero and liberator, taking down the main house one by one and painting the white walls of the compound red with their blood. Several had been questioned, under torture. Not even the use of the seal had been able to ring from them the identity of the murderer.

The compound had been a graveyard the last few weeks. No night life and everyone ordered to stay inside unless they had official business. There was no comfort in the silence, but then in a village of ninja it meant nothing.

Infuriatingly, Hiashi refused to see reason. He maintained that the threat was an outside source that had nothing to do with the lesser family, and had banned the use of the seal to get them to talk. Like the soft hearted fool he was, Hiashi would not see the conniving faces of those that refused to learn their place.

He had even tried to save Neji, even though the clan council had decided his execution was necessary. He was too much of a liability to the clan. They had overlooked his mistakes as a child, but now he was working with the Hokage to take their power, remove their system of safety. It was rumored he'd even found a way to remove the seal completely.

Hiashi didn't understand that it was too late now to change the years of hatred between the two families. If the protection of the seal was removed, the branch family would slaughter them all. The appearance of this Tenmou-hime, their adoration of her, only proved that.

Under normal circumstances he would not have left the safety of his room, but he had reason to suspect two of the cadet members—a set of twins—of helping Tenmou-hime get in. He couldn't prove it, but he was certain that they were the ones who had written 'Justice for Neji' in red paint on the outside walls.

A sudden pain, like a mosquito bite, brought Hideyo to a halt. That had been his blind spot. No hesitation, no questioning. Just a direct hit.

It had even been used to the fullest advantage, as he heard something small and metallic clatter to the ground behind him, but found he could not turn to look. The muscles in his body were tensing on their own, locking him in position and unable to move.

A shadow landed in front of them, the weight of it barely whispering as it touched the ground, before it righted itself. Like a panther it crept towards him, and the moonlight reflected off a pair of near-gold brown eyes.

The girl. The girl Neji had chosen to protect instead of Hinata while on a mission. The decision that had sealed his fate when it proved where his loyalties lay. His teammate.

Never, though, had Hideyo seen her like this. Her face was painted white, with two red lines following the contours of her face from eyes to jaw, and her hair buns were tied with white ribbons. In her hand was a katana, and even in this light he could make out the excellent craftsman ship. The two birds sitting on a branch carved on its blade.

"Tenmou-hime." The name came, unbidden, to his trembling lips, and the girl smiled at him.

"I will see every one of you rot," she said softly, creeping toward him. Her every moment screamed of efficiency and power. This was death. "I will not rest until your filth has been erased from this earth."

He didn't want to die. Surviving so many years of the battle field to die at the hands of a young girl…it was shameful. But she knew of the blind spot. Knew how to exploit every weakness the byakugan had, it seemed. Neji must have taught her that. "Please…what can we do to make it up to you? How can we make up for our crimes?"

The cold steel of her blade against his neck caused him to flinch.

"Open your eyes," she spat, and he couldn't help but obey. She smirked at him, a cold edged weapon all its own. "I want to watch the hope fade from your eyes as you die."

"Have mercy, Tenmou-hime, please." His muscles trembled as he tried to move—for flee or fight he didn't even know. "I'll do anything, please."

"Anything?" She drew the blade back, aiming for the arteries there. "Bring Neji back to me. Restore his life, his hopes, his dreams, and I will spare you."

Silver eyes widened, finding nothing in those steel brown eyes to work with. No remorse. No sorry. Not even hatred. "I-I cannot."

"Then tell him, should he choose to visit you in hell, that I hope he is pleased with your sacrifice." He hand twitched, and he didn't even have time to cry out.


	13. Coffee

**A/N:** Just some drabble practice with this them, though it's technically a little long. Not bad for someone who's never had a sip of coffee in her life. Title-less because...I can't think of one.

_**Coffee**_

He should say TenTen is like coffee, but he doesn't.

There are, of course, the obvious reasons for this comparison. Her hair is the kind of reddish brown of roasted coffee beans, and her eyes are the exact same shade as Hinata's cup when she fixes it just the way she likes-two spoonfuls of sugar and extra cream with a bit of chocolate and hazelnut. Neji used to drink his dark, but since this discovery always lets Hinata make it for him.

Reasons known only to him exist, too. She can be hot; passionate and fiery in the heat of battle, a demanding girlfriend who is constantly going for kisses and shooting him half-lidded looks that make his body burn. Just as easily, she can be iced. Sulky and petulant when she can't have what she wanted. Pushing him away sometimes without explanation, and being deliberately hurtful when they argued.

The first thing he wants to see in the morning. The perfect ending to any meal is her kiss.

No one seems to know if she is good for him, or the worst thing he could possibly be doing. Not that it matters. At this point, Neji knows, he couldn't say no to her if he wanted. He needs her to function every day, and if he lets her, she would keep him up all night.

Others can laugh at him, correct him, but Neji knows the truth. Like is not strong enough. TenTen is Neji's coffee.


	14. Vacation

**WARNINGS:** General fluffy goodness, with some attempts at being sexy at the end that suck. Brief mentioning of past child abuse. Oh, and more pregnant TenTen, because I think it's sweet.

_**Simple and Clean**_

Normally, Neji wasn't one for vacations. It just wasn't his personality, and eight years of being on Team Guy had only reinforced it. In all that time, they'd only had one break, and that was because Tsunade had decided the rest of the village needed a break from _**them**_. Which was why, when Shizune first suggested it, Neji's instinct had been to turn it down. So what if it was his twentieth birthday? The same old small celebration with his team would be just as acceptable this year as all the ones before.

That was before Shizune had forced a brochure into his hands, advertising a small beach cottage only a day's travel from Konoha. Just a small one room thing, with a bed, a bathroom, and a kitchenette. A covered porch that faced out to the water. The once white paint was faded grey in places, a little worn, but still functional. It wasn't much of a place, but maybe that was why it had struck him as so perfect the moment he saw the picture.

Staring out the window, TenTen was bathed in golden light. As he watched her, dressed in one of his shirts that rested snuggly against the small swell of her stomach, Neji was silently grateful to his sensei's girlfriend for insisting. In his eyes, TenTen had always been beautiful, but now the sight of her literally stole his breath away. The new curves of her growing belly and breasts, her thicker wavy hair, and healthy look to her skin—how could anyone not one to snatch her right up and never let go?

His beloved's brown eyes never left the softly rolling waves gently lapping at the sand, the gentle rush of water still audible from this distance. "Guy-sensei once told me that everything in the world could be solved with salt water."

"Oh?" A cool breeze blew through the open window and door, leaving a salty film on his lips and bare chest; it pulled on his hair and the collar of her shirt, creeping in a welcome whisper.

Now she did turn to look at him, strands of her loose auburn hair blowing across her face. "Yes. Through sweat, tears, or the ocean."

Raising his arm, Neji motioned for her to climb into bed next to him. She silently crossed the faded, gritty, pine floor, the crème sheets catching on her knees as she crawled awkwardly over to him. With one arm he pulled her gently down onto her side, so her head could rest securely on his chest, just above his heart, where he could easily lean forward and softly kiss the top of her head. Layers of fabric separated the new curves of her body from his, but still the rise of her belly against his side was distracting. "I didn't know you had anything that needed fixing."

"There's always something that needs to be fixed."

Neji closed his eyes as one of her hands lazily stroked along his abs. This is what he loved the most. These quiet moments where nothing needed to be said, and they were talking simply for the pleasure of hearing each others voices. No expectations, no weighty responsibilities or talk of clans, expectations, futures. Just Neji and TenTen, enjoying each other's company. "What are we fixing then?"

"Me."

The hand that had been resting comfortably behind her now reached up, grabbing the loose ends of her auburn hair and letting them fall through his fingers. "You? What about you are we supposed to be fixing?"

She shrugged, making a soft humming noise. "It's hard to be scared in a place as peaceful as this."

"Scared?" Shifting his weight a little, Neji managed to turn so he was facing her a little more directly without moving her any further away. "What could you be scared of?"

Brown eyes flicked down, and Neji followed them. Her arms were currently hidden by the long sleeves of his shirt, but they both knew that underneath lay a maze of scars. A silent testament to the years of abuse she had suffered at the hands of her mother.

His hand switched automatically from playing with her hair to rubbing soothing circles in her back. "TenTen, we talked about this. You're nothing like your mother. You won't hurt our baby."

Our baby. It didn't matter what the context was, every time he thought those words it made his stomach turn. Their baby. Her baby, and his.

"But how can you know for sure?" She shivered against him, but Neji doubted it really had anything to do with the evening sea breeze. "We've known about this baby for two months now and," her voice trailed off, so quiet he couldn't hear her over the waves anymore.

A soft squeeze of her shoulder. They could talk now, or they could talk later, but never before she was ready. Forcing her to talk had been the reason she had broken up with him just after telling him about their baby. This time, he could wait, until she was willing to face her demons.

She sighed, her warm breath leaving a wake of goose bumps as it ghosted across his collar bone. "What's wrong with me, Neji? Two months, and I don't love my baby."

Yes, they'd known for two months, and she'd been pregnant for four, but only now was she really starting to show in an obvious way. In the last few weeks she had stopped being sick every ten minutes, and it had been in the last week that the chakra system had developed enough that Neji could separate it from TenTen's.

He rubbed a hand down her arm and leaned down, kissing each of her eyelids. "I don't either."

"What?" TenTen jerked away from him, small pink lips parting slightly in an almost frightened look. "You don't? Why not? I thought you were excited about this."

"I am. But," he pulled her close again, pretending not to notice her slight resistance. How could he describe this? The last thing he wanted was to upset her more. "If I told you that you had a sister that lived in Mist that you couldn't remember, would you love her?"

The blankets made a soft scratching noise as she shifted, settling closer to his side. "I suppose that; no, I wouldn't. Just because you told me...I don't think I could imagine what having a sister is like."

"Exactly." Neji couldn't help smiling a little as he bent to nuzzle her face. For someone that spent as much time outside as she did, TenTen had extremely soft skin. He could still smell the salt on her from their afternoon out in the water, too. "Right now our baby is like that. Something far away that we don't understand. Too small for you to even feel it moving. But you will, and I know that when that happens—when you get to know him—you will love him."

"Him?" The playful shine had returned to her eyes, and Neji could feel the corners of her mouth tugging into a smile against his bare skin. "What makes you so certain it will be a boy?"

She shivered again as his hands slid down her new curves, sliding under his shirt to draw circles on the small baby bulge. Once again, Neji thought with some smugness, it had nothing to do with cold. "I'm not. I just like seeing you all worked up."

"Oh, I'll bet you do." She ran her head along his chest, making him gasp as loose strands of hair ghosted along his pecs. "You know, I'm never going to understand you."

"Probably not." It took some wiggling, but thanks to years of ninja training he was able to fold over slightly and capture her lips, brushing them ever so slightly with his tongue before pulling away. "That's why I know you're going to be such a good mother. You can manage to love me."

Rolling over again, his little minx straddled him a fluid movement that would be impossible for her in a few short months. Bare thighs on either side of his hips, TenTen grinned down at him, tucking some loose hair back behind her ear. "It isn't that hard. I'll even prove it to you now if you want, as a special birthday present."

Oh yes, he was definitely going to have to thank Shizune for this.

Neji sat up halfway, weight on his hands, to kiss her again, this time sliding his tongue between welcoming lips and running it along ever flat surface he could reach. When she whimpered, he pulled his tongue back and murmured against her mouth, "I would like that very much."


	15. Celebration

**WARNINGS: **Old prompt, but I couldn't think of anything for the current ones. I just felt like I needed to do some NejiTen. Tensey, tiny, bit of angst, but nothing you haven't seen already in these stories.

The 'verse' used here is a favorite of my sister, and I blame her for its creation. So, credit there where it is due, I guess. It might be AU, I suppose, but might not be.

A lot of the customs I'm referencing is from ancient China, but since Team Guy is largely inspired by Chinese culture, I figured I could blur the line a little this one time.

Inspired by the song 'At the Beginning' from Anastasia. I've just remembered that I forgot how much I loved that song.

_**Beginning  
By: Reggie**_

TenTen knew she was supposed to be living in seclusion, with only her best female friends to accompany her. It was a Hyuuga clan tradition, and they even had a special wing set aside for that purpose.

It was comfortable enough, she supposed, and the other kunoichi in her age group were good enough company. They'd been having a grand time dramatically lamenting her departure from their circle of single friends and into the semi-seclusion of the Hyuuga compound. It was just that, really, she could only take so much of being constantly surrounded by people.

She was slightly reclusive by nature, and TenTen sometimes just needed a bit of alone time. Which she was taking now, leaving a clone to nod her head while Sakura and Ino debated whether or not Neji would have the courage to ever kiss her in public or not, and Hinata and Hanabi speculated how soon it would take the elders of the clan to descend on the couple and demand they have children.

That last conversation, more than anything, was the reason the air around the kunoichi felt like it was closing in around her. The Elders in the Hyuuga clan would be expecting them to have children, wouldn't they? To act and behave like a real couple.

And a couple was something she and Neji never had been.

TenTen's earliest memory was saying good-bye to her father, a stony clan leader much like Hyuuga Hiashi, when the men from Konoha came for her. This had been long ago, in Mist, before so many were killed for the blood limits. As always in the country, war had been simmering, and her father wanted allies when it finally boiled over. That was why she, TenTen, a child of three, had been engaged to the then heir-apparent of the Hyuuga clan, Neji.

She was his only child, a princess in the eyes of the clan. Except for one very important fact. She was a carrier of the blood limit, but unable to use it herself. It was drilled into her head that she would serve the clan best with her marriage, and she had shed no tears as she left her home. Not even when she spent the next year groomed to be the perfect Hyuuga companion.

Her fortunes had changed since then, with the near extinction of her clan, but then so had Neji's when it became obvious Hinata would survive her sickly infancy. No one paid any attention to either of them after Neji was sealed, letting them both do as they pleased. The engagement was all but forgotten, and nobody had ever really bothered to call it off now that all value had gone from it.

There were several good reasons, in TenTen's opinion, why she couldn't be the one to do it either. First of all, she had grown up in the Hyuuga compound. She had no other home but the small sunlit room that was allotted to her here. If she called off the engagement, she would have nowhere else to go. The second reason was that, while Neji's intended, she was considered a citizen of Konoha. She was allowed to be a ninja and, more importantly, given protection from those in Mist who would see her ended as the last of the line. With the ending of the engagement, her life as she knew it would also end.

Her third reason was far more simple. It was just that she had fallen in love with Neji Hyuuga.

It had been nearly impossible not to! From her arrival in Konoha they had been nearly constant companions. They had gone everywhere together, and shared nearly every life experience. After his father's death, TenTen had been the only one Neji had talked to for weeks. She was the one to nurse him when he was sick or injured, and he was the one to treat her as a person of value. They had never been apart from one another until recently and even then it was just brief solo missions.

How could she not have fallen for the boy who used to kiss her wounds better? Her safety net, guide, protector, and partner?

She would have had no problems with this idea of being Mrs. Neji Hyuuga at all, except that Neji had never let his feelings be known one way or the other on the matter. His approach to the wedding plans had been lackluster at best, and he kept disappearing whenever the subject was brought up. This included when TenTen herself tried to talk to him about it.

The ceremony was to be the next day, and still she had no idea why he was going through with this.

Was he just resigning himself once again to fate? Was it because his father, too, hadn't called it off, and Neji was honoring whatever desire Hizashi may have had for that? There were multiple reasons, all equally likely and all having nothing to do with any attachment to TenTen.

Frustrated, TenTen growled low in her throat and turned another random hallway. She needed to get out of here, to think and breathe air that wasn't trying to ask a million questions she could not answer.

Her ears perked up ever so slightly as she snuck passed a dark hallway. She could hear the laughter of several children coming from that direction, and almost on instinct her feet followed the sound. One of her favorite passed times was to volunteer in the Hyuuga nursery, and maybe those round smiling faces were what she needed right now. They always had a way of making things seem a bit brighter. Although, she could have sworn she hadn't wandered that way…

Brown eyes peeked into the only open doorway that had light inside, and widened considerably at the site. Spread across the floor was a very expensive looking down futon set, its soft white covers glaring in contrast to the tatami mats it was on. On top of that were nine or ten small Hyuuga children, spread out as they giggled, rolled, and played around on the bed.

Most impressive of all was that there, right in the middle of them, sat none other than Neji himself.

Using one hand to forcibly close her jaw, TenTen withdrew slightly into the shadows, praying she hadn't been seen. What on earth could they all possibly be doing in...she glanced around, attempting to gather exactly where in the compound she was. When recognition dawned, her eyes widened again. In the room that had been given to her and Neji. As a wedded couple.

One of them, a tiny girl from the cadet branch with fluffy pigtails on either side of her head, climbed up into Neji's lap and sat like she belonged there. TenTen knew her very well, having spent many of her free hours entertaining the little girl in the nursery. Her name was Ren, and, like many children in her village, Ren's parents were ninja. And, like several of them, her mother had died on a mission not long ago.

"Are you scared about tomorrow, Neji-niisan?" She asked, her small voice bright with happiness.

The Hyuuga genius hmmed in his usual way, tilting his head slightly to look down at her. "Is there any reason I should be scared?"

"TenTen-neechan can be pretty scary when she's mad." This speaker, a small main branch troublemaker named Hiroto, had been on the receiving end of TenTen's wrath many times. She couldn't help smiling that her fury, at least, had made an impression.

She could see Neji's face in profile, and she watched, bemused, as he simply quirked an eyebrow. Though Neji was often at the receiving end of Hiroto's badly executed and badly timed pranks, he himself had never even tried to scold the boy. It must have surprised him, a little, to know she did.

"Nu-uh, she'd never be mad at Neji-niisan." Much to TenTen's delight, the small girl turned and gave Neji a fiercely protective hug. "She loves him, she told me so."

Neji jerked back, visibly startled, and TenTen felt her face heating up considerably. She had, in fact, told the little girl something like that several months ago. When she had been sitting in TenTen's lap, demanding an answer from the universe as to why the person she loved most had been taken from her. All that TenTen had been able to tell her was that her mother had known the risks, but took missions anyway because she loved her and wanted her to be safe.

Ren had looked up at her, looking miserable with her seal uncovered and byakugan standing out even more with her eyes red from crying. "TenTen-neechan goes on missions all the time. Why do you do it?"

"For the same reason." She had brushed Ren's hair back instinctively, offering what little comfort she could. "I want the village safe, so the people I love can be happy here."

"Who are you keeping safe?"

"Neji," The answer had been automatic. It was what she spent every mission they were together doing. Making sure that, no matter what, Neji would make it home safe. To make him happy the best she was able.

She hadn't really meant to tell Ren her feelings about Neji but, in a way, that was exactly what she had done.

Another voice, a very young main branch Hyuuga, jerked her back to the conversation. "Will you and TenTen-neechan have any kids for me to play with?"

"You might be too old to play with them when we do." Neji's voice was kind, soft in a way she rarely heard, as he reached out and rested a hand on the child's head. The way Hizashi had done to him. "But I would very much like to. Someday."

TenTen's breathe stuck in her throat, and she swallowed to try and dislodge it. Kids? Neji wanted to have kids? With her? It could still mean that he saw it as a duty, or simply wanted children, but she didn't want to believe that. She could, almost, hope that he might have more than just friendly feelings towards her.

"What will you call them?"

"How would I know? That would be up to their mother, too, wouldn't it?"

Ren nodded at the simple wisdom of this, leaning back onto Neji's chest. "You two will be very happy together."

"I certainly hope so." Neji was smiling now. Not his usual smirk, but the soft look he usually reserved for moments when he was remembering his father. When he was truly happy.

Maybe it wasn't much to go on, but as she turned to disappear down the hall, TenTen couldn't help feeling just a little lighter. Watching Neji with those children, he seemed more real than he had in weeks. More comfortable. And if he was not afraid, she knew she didn't need to be either. She could believe that, like he said, they would be happy together.

The fact that he said that, that he wanted it, would be more than enough to get her through the next few days. Maybe, the rest of her life. However long that turned out to be.


End file.
